One story, every platform. Written for each one.

One story, a version for each platform. How to share news on social media

When you share news on social media, write a separate version of the story for each platform you use, and let the kind of story decide the format. Each version gets its own hook, caption and crop. The facts underneath don't change; only the way they're presented does.

That's the approach in our own guide, Hynca Media Desk's "Doing social media right: one message, made for each platform", published on 4 October 2026. It describes no change on any platform. It's working guidance for five platforms: LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Google Business Profile. If you post anywhere else, it has nothing to say about that. One limit comes first. The guide gives no studies, data or sample sizes behind its platform rules, and it attributes none of them to a person or body. Treat each rule as a starting point, and check it on your own pages using the testing method at the end of this piece.

Why the same post everywhere falls flat

Posting the identical thing on every platform underperforms. The guide doesn't define underperforming or say by how much, and we won't put a figure on it. What it does make clear is where the differences sit.

The hook is the opening line, or the first moment of a video, that makes someone stop scrolling. The caption is the text that carries the story. The crop is the shape of the image or video. A hook written for a professional audience can read stiffly in a feed full of friends and family. A caption long enough to explain a story properly can be far too long for a short listing post. An image framed wide loses its edges when a platform shows it taller.

The usual mistake is a scheduling tool set to send one caption, one image and one link to five accounts at once. It feels efficient. It also means four of the five posts were written for somewhere else. A scheduling tool is useful for timing. It can't do the writing for each platform: that part still needs a person.

Choose the format from the story

Start with the kind of story you have, then pick the format. The guide pairs them plainly. A punchy alert works as a simple graphic. Step-by-step teaching works as a carousel. A human or local story works as a real photo. Video goes out in the evening. The guide doesn't define "evening" or give posting times or days, so we won't either.

Some content tends to do better than other content. Real stories perform. So do "what nobody tells you" warnings: the practical detail people usually learn the hard way. News only does well when it asks the reader something. That matters for anyone whose site is built around news, because a bare headline gives people nothing to answer.

Here's a worked example. Suppose you're a trade body, and a consultation has opened that affects how your members work. Posted as a headline on its own, that's news with nothing to reply to. As an alert, it becomes a simple graphic: "Consultation now open: what it means for members." As a question-led post, it opens with something members can answer: "Has this change already affected how you work? Tell us below." If the story has a step-by-step side, such as how to respond, that part becomes a carousel. If a member has a real experience of the issue and is happy to share it, that's the human story, and it gets a real photo.

So one consultation can give you four posts in four formats. The same thinking works for a small business. A price change is an alert. A guide to booking is teaching. A long-serving member of staff retiring is a human story. Each of them is then shaped for the platforms it suits, as the sections below set out.

One ask per post, and no link by default

The rule is 1 ask per post. A genuine question works better than "follow" or "tag a friend". It gives people a reason to reply, and the replies tell you what your readers think.

Most platforms reward posts that keep people on the platform. The guide's default is to avoid links and drive people to your profile instead. It doesn't say which platforms "most" means, or how much reach a link costs. The default is still sensible for a website owner: if the post is good, people who want more will look at your profile, and your profile can point to your site. Check that it does. A profile with an out-of-date web address or an old description wastes the visit the post earned.

A common mistake is stacking every ask into one post. A question, a link and "follow us for more" all compete, and the reader often does none of them. Pick the one thing you want. For a news story, that's usually an answer to your question.

LinkedIn and Facebook

On LinkedIn, personal profiles tend to outperform company pages. Use 0 to 3 hashtags. The first hour decides reach, so post when you or a colleague can reply to comments straight away, not at the end of a day when nobody is watching. Saves and comments matter more than likes, and a question at the end of the post is what invites comments. A post people save is one they found useful enough to come back to, which suits a "what nobody tells you" warning well.

For agencies and member organisations, this changes who posts. Consider sharing the story from a person's profile as well as the page: a director, a chief executive, or the account lead for a client. The page post keeps the record; the personal post is the one more likely to travel. A version from a named person can also carry more of their own view of what the consultation means, which a page post usually can't. Agree beforehand who will post, and who will answer comments in that opening hour.

On Facebook, Reels carry reach. Captions should be short and question-led. Taking the consultation story again, a Facebook caption might be two lines: what has opened, then "Will this change how you work?" If you have a short video of someone explaining the change, that belongs in a Reel. A still image with a long caption asks the reader to do more work for less.

Instagram and TikTok

On Instagram, use 4:5 images. Carousels lead engagement, so the step-by-step part of a story often belongs here first. For the consultation, that might be one slide for what has opened, one for who it affects, one for how to respond, and a final slide with your question. Use at most 5 hashtags. In videos, say your keyword aloud, so the subject of the story is spoken as well as written.

TikTok is video only. Your keyword should be spoken, shown on screen and placed first in the caption. If the story is about a consultation, the word "consultation" goes in the first breath of the video, on screen as text, and at the start of the caption. If a story has no video, it doesn't go on TikTok. That's a decision about one story, not about the platform: the next story may well suit it.

Between the two, plan the video once and cut it twice. The person explaining the consultation can record a short piece to camera. On Instagram it goes out with the keyword said aloud; on TikTok, with the keyword also on screen and leading the caption.

Google Business Profile needs its own post

Write Google Business Profile posts for Google Business Profile specifically. Keep them to 150 to 300 characters, with no links or hashtags, and add a call-to-action button. The button does the job a link would do elsewhere.

Reusing an Instagram caption is the usual mistake here. It brings its hashtags with it, and often runs well past the length.

Here's the consultation story trimmed to fit:

"A consultation that affects how our members work is now open. We've read it and set out what it means for you, and what to say if you respond. Read our guide before the deadline using the button below."

That's about 200 characters, inside the range, and the button carries people to the guide on your site. To get there from a longer caption, keep what has happened, why it matters to the reader and what to do next. Cut everything else. If you look after several client listings, write this version alongside the others when the story is drafted, so it isn't left until last and skipped.

How to find out what works for your readers

Test one thing at a time before deciding what works. The guide sets the order: posting time first, then format, then day. Change only one of them, compare the results, then move on to the next. If you change the time and the format in the same week, you won't know which one made the difference.

The guide doesn't say how long each test should run or which numbers to measure. It doesn't say when the platform advice was last checked, or whether it suits a particular region or audience. So decide your measure before you start, and keep it the same across every test. For a news story with a question attached, replies are an obvious choice; on LinkedIn, saves and comments are the ones the guide says count. If a carousel does better than a single photo for your readers, keep it; if it doesn't, change it.

A sensible routine looks like this:

1. Pick one news story a week.
2. Decide its format from the kind of story it is.
3. Give each version one question as its ask.
4. Run the first test on posting time, keep everything else the same, and note what happens before moving on to format.

Whoever drafts the versions, the last step doesn't change. You read each version, edit it and approve it before anything goes out. Nothing is posted by itself.

See how the Desk drafts social posts and video scripts from your own facts, held for your approval.